The True Definition of Calories i.e. "Why what you believe is extremist BS" page 25

[VacillateWildly]

I have to comment on this as well. I'm a man so I will never have any experience with what it's like to be a woman and what it's like to deal with monthly cycles or menopause. That being said, I have to agree with you xlanocka. I think you hit the nail right on the head. Time is the variable.

We have to think of our bodies as a compilation of previous occurences. For me, I've had 37 years of previous occurrence to trade with. For anyone to believe that they can change what has happened to their bodies over an entire lifetime with only a few weeks is sadly mistaken.

For someone who is 45 years old and has just changed to the Paleo stly of eating has 45 years of previous occurrence that needs to be fixed before they are going to be able to move forward with a healthy optimal hormonal balance. I'm not saying it's going to take another 45 years but it's definitely going to take years to get back to optimal.

This is why caloric deficit doesn't work. One must learn to regulate hormone levels with their food intake to achieve a healthy metabolism and body weight. I'll tell you why calorie deficit doesn't work. Lets use a 45 year old woman who has been eating 2000 calories of what she considers healthy foods. She has average activity but is currently 15 pounds overweight. She decides to lower her calories by 500 calories a week so she'll loose 1 pound a week for 15 weeks.

There are a couple of things that are going to happen here. First off, the most obvious, She's going to feel hungry more often. Secondly, her body will understand that it's in a time of lower nutrition so it's going to slow it's metabolism. The reason is so it doesn't need as many calories to preform life giving tasks. Notice I say life giving tasks, not general running to the store to pick up milk after driving the kids to soccer practice and making sure that husband doesn't burn the house down because it's his turn to cook dinner. The lower metabolism is also going to make her body want to sleep more because when the body is sleeping the amount of energy being used is very low.

That's just part of the story. She can't sleep more because she's still a mother, still a wife and still has a job so she continues to push her body at the same speed as before even on a caloric deficit so now she increases her stress levels which in turn raises the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes the body to store body fat in the stomach area. In addition to the increased cortisol, the body is still believing that it's in a time of lower nutrition so on top of down regulating metabolism, it also begins to store fat while lowering muscle mass because it's too caloricly expensive to carry.

Evolutionarily women are more important than men. That's why women's bodies deregulate metabolism and store fat so much quicker than men. To survive and give life to the next generation. I think you're all pretty awesome myself! Even if the weight is lost, once the caloric deficit is restored the body gains more weight back because the metabolism has now been lowered and a new even lower caloric deficit is needed to loose the same 15 pounds that she has gained back. Sound familiar?

Its so important to firstly eat the proper macro ratios that we are evolutionarily meant to eat. High protein and fat with low carbohydrates. Secondly (and this begins with proper nutrition) is to make sure you eat for hormonal regulation. Eat foods that regulate insulin, balance estrogen and testosterone and lower cortisol.

Lastly when one is doing this I'll go back to my original point. Don't expect years of chronic dieting and calorie reduction to be fixed over night. Take time with your body it deserves it. After all, it's been dealing with what you've been doing to it for years.

I think there is much sense in using time to heal and having a badly knocked about body and only a few months of primal I can see it is a process worth waiting for.

My body is doing strange things at the moment as it is acutally being fed properly, but if I ate huge plates of fatty food till I was full I would gain very quickly. It is a nonsense to think otherwise.

[ciep]

Cals in/cals out vs. quality of calories is a false dichotomy. Quality of calories determines how miserable you're going to be when adhering to cals in/cals out.

Well put.

[Iron Will]

I think there is much sense in using time to heal and having a badly knocked about body and only a few months of primal I can see it is a process worth waiting for.

My body is doing strange things at the moment as it is acutally being fed properly, but if I ate huge plates of fatty food till I was full I would gain very quickly. It is a nonsense to think otherwise.

It really does depend on what kinds of fats your are feeding yourself as well as your other ratios. If you continue to feed yourself fats that are high in omega 6 fatty acids and continue eating a high carbohydrate diet then yes, you will gain weight. If you look at your ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids, get those as close to 1:1 as you can, continue to eat better fats and lower your carbs you will begin to loose weight. I don't doubt that your body is going to do some really weird things. It's going to go through some shock. Gaining a little bit of weight initially may be a very good thing. You are going to start gaining muscle and lean mass (connective tissue). Your body is going to react the way it needs to become healthy again. Don't stop the process by worrying about what your scale says. Let you body heal and progress the way it needs to. One last thing, it's time to start to move again. Everyday. The best way for your body to remove those toxins is getting outside in the sunshine and moving. Live, breath, move, love.

[Sue]

Well, if attempting to degrade a member who simply gave his/her two cents through juvenile name calling makes you feel better about justifying your weight loss woe's, then whatever floats your boat my dear.



Thank you. I agree with your last paragraph. Chronic dieting and calorie reduction is typically part of the problem when it comes to a slowed or deregulated metabolism.




THIS ^ I understand that the majority of the people (especially women) on this forum want to lose weight as their main objective. I know that a lot of people have a history of yo-yo dieting and extreme calorie restriction. But weight gain in the sense of re-regulating your metabolism is NOT a bad thing. It's part of the necessary process. Yet so many women are afraid of it. They're afraid to up their calorie intake because they gain immediately. Well.... duhhh. You screwed up your metabolism from years and years of dieting and crappy eating. Of course you're not going to magically lose weight the moment you up your calories from eating 1000 a day. It takes time. And not just a week or two, or four. Once your metabolism is up to speed where it should be prior to years of destructive dieting and calorie restriction, it will get rid of what it doesn't need: mainly body fat.

Our bodies want stability. This is why many people stay the same weight for the majority of their adult life, only gaining gradually as the years progress due to natural metabolic slow down and decrease in lean mass. If the individual eats a few hundred calorie below maintenance, the body will temporarily slow energy usage. If the individual binges and eats a few hundred calorie above maintenance, then the body will either ramp up the metabolism, or get rid of what it does not need. If by eating a couple hundred extra calories makes you gain "tons of weight rapidly" then that should indicate an underlying health problem which should be addressed rather than using a quick cop-out like severe calorie restriction.

To be honest, I view calorie restriction like I do pills. It may mask the symptoms, it may appear the problem is being solved at face value. But underneath, you're still sick and the problem is still there growing worse and worse. Yes, a calorie deficit needs to be achieved in order to lose weight. BUT that doesn't mean eating 1000 calories a day. That's logically just not healthy unless you're a sedentary old midget (or otherwise have a serious medical condition). Pardon the CW-ness. But that's what I believe. I don't see how someone can have a high quality of life eating so little, and scrutinizing every single bite to ensure they fit his/her minimum nutrients into so little calories. No doubt those deficiencies would eventually take a toll on health in the long run.

It takes a substantial amount of time for the body to heal itself. I've read testimonies where vegans do really well for a long time, and then 6months or 12months down the road they begin having ailments which gradually fix themselves. This is because the body FINALLY has the strength and proper nutrients to combat years and years of damage that it was not able to deal with before. Thinking that being 100% paleo for a month or two is magically going to solve all of your health issues and heal the scars hidden deep within old tissue is very very naive.

Fix your health first. Weight loss will follow suite.

Don't even get me started on women trying to lose vanity weight and getting frustrated when they're not losing 2lbs per week eating practically nothing. Society's "ideal weight" is not nature's ideal weight. Just because YOU think you need to be 110lbs, or a size 6 and eat 1000 calories, does not mean that's how nature intended your body to be.

Your rant doesn't make sense. You are only 22 and wanting to be 110 aswell.

[cori93437]

The fact that you believe that you have the only answers to every persons weight issues is pompous.
That is not name calling, it's a fact.
It also is/was not degrading, it is/was in reference to your manner of speaking (i.e. the content and tone of your posts)

You say get healthy, THEN lose weight.
What about people who need to lose weight in order to get healthy?
People who have already been eating very healthy diets for a long time?
No yo-yoing or extreme cal restriction in the past.
Yes, it is possible for some people to need low calorie diets due to circumstances out of their control.
Your denial of those facts does not decrease the truth of them.

It's frustrating how people show up and know everything about how EVERY metabolism works... even though they have no experience with any metabolism but their own.

And yes, acting like a know it all is pompous.
Perhaps you should try looking up the definition of a word.

*edited for clarification re: pompous

[Sue]

The fact that you believe that you have the only answers to every persons weight issues is pompous.
That is not name calling, it's a fact.

You say get healthy, THEN lose weight.
What about people who need to lose weight in order to get healthy?
People who have already been eating very healthy diets for a long time?
No yo-yoing or extreme cal restriction in the past.
Yes, it is possible for some people to need low calorie diets due to circumstances out of their control.
Your denial of those facts does not decrease the truth of them.

It's frustrating how people show up and know everything about how EVERY metabolism works... even though they have no experience with any metabolism but their own.

And yes, acting like a know it all is pompous.
Perhaps you should try looking up the definition of a word.

Well said. I hate when someone thinks they know it all.

[cori93437]

Honestly...
You have no idea because you have a healthy 22 yr old metabolism.

I once had one of those too.
Enjoy it, and take care if it.
But don't assume that it = other metabolisms.

And don't assume every 40 yr old participated in that fat-phobic margerine/fake fat twaddle.
Changes in hormones happen to women during their lives. Period.
Medical accidents/illnesses that have nothing to do with weight or thyroid/hormones happen and change lives too.
You'll be lucky if your metabolism stays perfect long term even if you try very hard to stay healthy and keep it that way.
Lucky.

[Nady]

I suppose I should disregard my opinions and listen to every word that that older 40+ year olds are spouting out on this forum. You know.... like the fat-phobic, margarine and "I can't believe it's not butter" generation.. they clearly have a thing or two to teach me about weight loss. I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about because I'm just so young and obviously don't have any experience in anything because you know me so well. Yup, makes perfect sense.

Just wow. I'm going to remember that you already know it all, when you have questions ~ Because us 'oldies' are too stupid to help you anyway.

[bloodorchid]

well, i know i'm old at 31. i remember way back in my day, the health trends were whole grains and smart balance

ya'll all older than me must seem ANCIENT to these kids

which sucks for you. mwahahahahahaha

but for real, i'm glad i'm not 25 and under and know everything about everything.

[VacillateWildly]

It really does depend on what kinds of fats your are feeding yourself as well as your other ratios. If you continue to feed yourself fats that are high in omega 6 fatty acids and continue eating a high carbohydrate diet then yes, you will gain weight. If you look at your ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids, get those as close to 1:1 as you can, continue to eat better fats and lower your carbs you will begin to loose weight. I don't doubt that your body is going to do some really weird things. It's going to go through some shock. Gaining a little bit of weight initially may be a very good thing. You are going to start gaining muscle and lean mass (connective tissue). Your body is going to react the way it needs to become healthy again. Don't stop the process by worrying about what your scale says. Let you body heal and progress the way it needs to. One last thing, it's time to start to move again. Everyday. The best way for your body to remove those toxins is getting outside in the sunshine and moving. Live, breath, move, love.

Ummmm....I don't eat a high carb diet or anywhere near it. I move a lot and am lean and active. And I'm not trying to lose weight either, I'm now trying to maintain weight after a healthy gain. My earlier post was really about the impossibility of eating a super large plate full of fatty meat and low fibre veggies and losing weight anyway just because it's primal. This will not happen for me or probably anyone else who is not overweight or new off SAD.